Our Crazy Messed Up Lives
by crzdsunbeam
Summary: A boy who should be dead. A homeless girl with a strange anomaly. A boy abused by his parents. A girl who is trapped in her own mind. These four children are invited to Hogwarts, a school of magic. But when trouble comes, will they be able to fight through it as a team? Will they be able to protet the new selves they have found with the help of others? Will they survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Narrator**

This is the story of four young heroes who fought savagely for what they believed in. Even when the whole world seemed to be against them, when they were betrayed and assaulted, they still fought. And they always had each other. No matter what, they always had each other.

**Jack**

"Mum!" I yelled, running down the hall of our small house in western Norway. "I have been accepted! I've got my letter! Look!"

"What?" My mom, Madiliane, poked her head out of the kitchen doorway. "That's wonderful! Let me see!"

I handed her the letter. Mother nodded with a smile playing on her lips. "Go tell your sister! This is great!"

"What's goin' on?" Jack's little sister, Pippa, mumbled as she walked into the kitchen.

"Your big brother is going to Hogwarts!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" Pippa squealed, waking up instantly. "Does that mean we are going to Diagon Alley?"

Madiliane nodded, looking at her little boy with pride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sunbeam**

An owl swooped down and landed beside me during my watch and hooted loudly, startling me out of whatever feeling of serenity I had. I looked around quickly; making sure no one saw our hiding place. I glanced at the younger kids in the corner of the crumbling abandoned warehouse that we were staying in for the night to make sure that they were not disturbed. Lu, the youngest, rolled over and sighed in her sleep.

All was calm, besides the owl staring at me with large intelligent eyes.

We were orphans. Children who were abandoned and left to die by our parents. I was eleven, and the oldest. The other children, Lu, Mack and Will looked up to me. After all I was the one who saved them from starvation and cared for them after I found them in dirty alleyways. I couldn't just leave them there, we all had the same problem.

The owl jumped onto my leg and I stiffened. I had a thing against birds, a very large grudge. The thing held its leg out towards me and I realized that there was a message tied to it. It kept staring at me until I warily reached out to untie it, carefully minding the razor sharp beak.

After I did, it hopped on to the ground and took flight. I unfolded the paper. It was much finer than anything I've seen, with a big red wax seal with a large letter stamped onto it. I broke the seal, and stared at the scribbles on the page.

I couldn't read.

**Onceler**

Miranda hit me again.

"You're worthless." she snarled in my face.

Yes mom, I know. You've told me that every day since I was born.

_Slap._

"You were a mistake."

Should have used protection, mother dearest.

_Slap._

"It's your fault he left me."

_Slap._

No,

_Slap._

It's,

_Slap._

YOURS!

After eleven years of being hit and Miranda yelling at me and being told that it was my fault that the family had fallen to shambles, I was almost immune to pain. Both physically and emotionally. Almost. I wanted a way to escape. A secret path that my mother could not follow me on. And soon, or else I won't be here much longer.

Miranda stalked away, probably to get drunk again. She has been drinking more than usual. Something was going to happen, and I wasn't going to stick around.

I ran out of the house and down to the stables where I slept. There Melvin, my only friend, brayed at my approach. I petted him briefly then lay down on a pile of straw. As I gazed up at the stars, the silhouette of a bird passed over the full moon. An envelope floated down from the sky and landed on my stomach. I picked it up and read the back.

_To Mr. Onceler Smith,_

_The Stable In The Middle Of Nowhere_

On the other side of the letter was a red wax seal with an 'H' pressed into it. I broke it open and read the letter, scanning the words over and over again. Then I looked back up at the stars and smiled for the first time in what seems like forever.

I had finally found my escape.

**Rebekah**

**This can't be real.**

I was holding a letter that said was from a school of magic.

_**Of course it isn't real! You're deluding yourself. AGAIN.**_

**Shut up, Fred. **

Could this 'school' help me regain my sanity? It did say that it taught magic. Medicine never helped, so would magic? My parents might finally be happy around me again.

_**Do you really think that you will tell anyone?**_

**I thought I told you to SHUT UP! You ungrateful little parasite.**

_**Just because you tell me to do something doesn't mean I am going to do it.**_

I face palmed myself. Why couldn't Fred, this is the name I gave the voice, shut up? He was always nagging, always contradicting my every thought. If I wasn't already mad, he would have driven me to it. This decision was going to be the biggest one I ever made for myself, and he was going to ruin every step of the way.

**I'm going.**

_**Your funeral. **_

**Sunbeam**

I had no idea what to do. The letter was obviously important, and it was obviously for me, but I had no idea what to do now. So I just told the squirts that we were moving to a new hideout.

"Why are we leaving so suddenly Sun?" Will asked me. He is about 9 years old, and the only one old enough to truly understand anything I ever say.

"Like I said, a new hideout," I told him. "Grab that piece of bread."

And that was when the man in a red bathrobe materialized right in front of me, and made me scream so shrilly that the birds across the street took flight in fear for their lives.

**Rebekah**

I had to run away. My parents wouldn't let me go, even if I did show them the letter. They would of thought it was just another of my crazy ideas to prove that I wasn't insane. Which I have tried to do something similar to this, but I winded up in solitary confinement until my parents could come get me.

I was glad I lived in London, so I didn't have to go far to reach the Leaky Cauldron. That was the place that the letter said had an entrance to Diagon Alley. Apparently that was a place where I could get all my school supplies. I took my cat Isaac, a bag of blueberry muffins left over from breakfast, 3.98 dollars in change, an umbrella, and my rollerblades. I skated down a couple of streets until I saw the sign. "Leaky Cauldron".

**HAHA! I have found it!**

_**Are you sure about this? **_

**Nope. But I'm impulsive like that.**

**Jack**

We used Floo Powder to go to Diagon Alley. Nothing else to really say.

**Onceler**

I took Melvin and rode to London, and it seemed like he was just as happy as I was to get away from Miranda. It only took us about two hours to reach the Leaky Cauldron. I was about to go in when a girl on rollerblades crashed into us, and knocked me off on to the ground. She fell on her behind, with a little _oof._

"Oh, my god!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I am so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said I stood up and helped the girl up.

My breath caught in my throat when I looked at her face. She was absolutely beautiful, with cinnamon colored curls and kaleidoscope eyes. Standing at about three and a half feet tall, and adorably chubby, my voice wouldn't work. "I- um, I- do you- hey?"

"Are you okay?" she asked, her forehead creasing into a worried frown.

"Yes."

_You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I'm more fine than I have ever been in my entire life._

**Jack**

It didn't take us very long to buy most of my things. All that I had left was my wand. I hoped it would be something cool like ancient oak with dragon heartstring or something like that. Mum said she was going to take Pippa to the Magical Menagerie to look at some of the animals there, so I went into Ollivander's Wand Shop by myself.

Ollivander, a short plump man with crazy white hair, popped up from behind the counter when the bell connected to the door rang. "Ah!" he exclaimed. "A new student, I presume?"

"Yeah," I said, looking around at all the wand boxes stacked up to the ceiling.

"I know," he dashed between a row of boxes, "what you might like!"

Ollivander came back out with a long thin box in his hands. "This is very nice!" He handed the wand to me. "Well, don't just stand there, give it a swish!" I flicked my wrist and the roof of the wand shop caught fire. Ollivander seemed used to these things happening, and tried to use the aguamenti charm to put out the flames. But as soon as one bunch went out, the farther the fire spread, and Ollivander was starting to visibly panic.

I was starting to get scared too. There were a lot of wands in here, and almost all of them made of wood. What would happen to them if this place burned?

I bent down my head and concentrated deeply, focusing my power. I had no idea if this would work, but I had to try. Instinctive magyk was the most dangerous there ever was, and the hardest to control. I could destroy everything in here before the flames could.

_Come on, come on, come on!_ I thought. _Put out the flames!_

As soon as I finished the thought, a blast of icy wind swept through the shop and put out the flames on the roof, and everywhere else. I looked up, and saw Ollivander looking at me with a mix of admiration and pity. He nodded slowly, and a tear fell down his cheek.

"They said it would start with the boy," he murmured. "Then the girl would come, yes. The girl."

"Wait, hold on a minute!" I exclaimed. "Someone told you I was coming? What's going on? Why are you crying?"

Ollivander just shook his head sadly, and reached under his counter. He brought out a shepherd's crook, and held it out to me, holding it in both hands reverently. It was a smooth, finely carved piece of oak.

"This is yours."

I reached out my hand slowly, Ollivander nodding his head in encouragement. When my skin touched the wood, another icy wind swept through the small area. Ollivander shook his head again. "Be careful my boy," he said gravelly. "Terrible things are afoot."

He closed my hand around the staff, and bid me good day, as if nothing had happened at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sunbeam**

I stared at the man in shock in shock. He just came out of nowhere, and in a bathrobe. A curly white beard fell down to his waist, and his blue eyes looked at all of us joyfully.

"Ah!" the man threw out his arms like he was going to give me a hug. "Sunny! Are you ready to leave?" He had a very pronounced Russian accent.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, crouching down, preparing for a fight. "We know how to fight, and we aren't afraid to kill. Leave now and we won't have any problems."

"Did you not get letter Sunny?" the man asked. "I come to take you to Hogwarts! We go now!"

"You mean this?" I pulled the crumpled piece of paper from my pocket.

"Yes!" the man smiled. "You read, no?"

"I can't read, jackass."

"Oh, I fix that!" the man patted my head and spoke some strange words. "Look at letter now."

I glanced at the writing on the paper and found that I could suddenly interpret the words. I screamed, and dropped the paper like it had burned me.

"Sun!" Will looked from me, to the man, to the paper on the ground, unsure of what to do.

"I'm fine," I said. "Just shocked." I picked up the letter again, and read the words.

"Hogwarts, school for witchcraft and wizardry," I muttered.

"Is that the place we are going Sun?" Will started bouncing in place excitedly.

"Yeah," I brushed a lock of my short blonde hair out of my dirt streaked face. The man looked at me expectantly. "How can I trust you? I am not about to go off with some weirdo in a bath robe."

The strange man looked crestfallen for a moment, but then brightened up, like he just had an idea.

"You want proof I am wizard?" He pulled a stick from a pocket on his robe. "I give you proof!"

He pointed the stick at one of the crumbling walls, and said something that sounded like complete gibberish to me. But I gasped when ivy started growing on the stones at an unnatural rate. It spread across the stones, and then started growing grapes. It wasn't until each one was plump and juicy that it stopped growing.

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Yeah, you really are a wizard." I grabbed Lu's and Mack's hands, and Will grabbed the back of my tattered shirt. "Where too?"

"First we go to Diagon Alley!" The man grabbed my shoulders and everything went dark. I felt like my body was being forced a straw. I heard Lu cry out somewhere beside me. "Here we are!" the man yelled, as we came out of the tube or whatever it was that we were in. Did he not know how to be quiet?

I looked at the buildings that surrounded us. Where was here? It looked like nothing I had ever seen before. By the little gasps that came from the others, I could tell that they were as shocked as I was. Even with my newfound powers of reading, I couldn't tell what each sign meant. A Magical Menagerie, Gringotts?

"You need to go in here first!" the man yelled, pointing at a shop with a sign that said 'Ollivander's'. "It is where you will buy your wand!"

"I don't have any money." I stated.

He handed me a couple gold coins. "This should be enough."

The coins glittered brightly in my dirty hand. "Who are you?"

"I am Headmaster at Hogwarts, now go, or entire plan be ruined." He shoved me in the direction of the shop.

_This is insane_. But I walked through the door anyway, dragging the other kids with me.

"Whoa!" Mack exclaimed. 'Whoa' was right. There were boxes everywhere. On little tables, stacked to the ceiling, and everywhere else possible. We wandered

And in the very back of the shop, leaning against a wall, was the most beautiful piece of woodcraft I had ever seen. It was birch wood, inlaid with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topaz and opals. I reached out to pick it up, to examine it closer. I grasped the smooth wood with one hand and screamed as a fire started to tear my body apart. My back arched, my mouth open in a silent scream I rose in the air, my body wreathed in flames.

The levitation magic released me, and I fell to the floor, my body shaking uncontrollably, my vision clouded red, the fire still roaring in my ears. I could feel my legs stretching, my hair growing. I screamed once more and then passed out.

When I woke up I was lying on the ground, my head resting on Will's lap, and Lu, Mack, and a short plump man with weird hair were staring down at me.

"What happened?" I slurred.

"The magic in the staff chose you for its wielder," the short man said. "But it had to change your body into its true form."

"What?"

"Sun," Will started cautiously. "You might want to look in a mirror." The short man grabbed my hand, pulled me to my feet, and led me through the towering stacks of boxes, to where a huge mirror hung on a wall. I nearly screamed again.

My short and dirty blonde hair was now brown, clean, and almost 25 feet long.

I was 6 inches taller, so now the staff that I didn't realize I still had in my hand was now the same height as me.

My pale skin was now evenly tanned and didn't have a blemish on it.

The torn and dirty clothes I wore were replaced by a floor length orange dress, with long flowing sleeves and skirts.

And unfolded for the first time in a long time on my back were... crap!

**Rebekah **

The cute boy that I crashed into told me his name was Onceler. After asking my permission, he took my hand and led me into the Leakey Cauldron and through a magical brick wall that was a gateway into this place called Diagon Alley.

"I think it would be best if we got our wands first, don't you think?" Onceler asked me as we walked down the crowded street. He was looking at the list supplies on the letters and prioritizing each item.

"Sure," I said. He seemed to know what he was doing, so I decided to just follow him around for a while. So he took me to a building that said 'Ollivander's' over the doorway. A bell clanged when we opened the door.

I heard a small shriek near the back of the wall of the building. I started to head towards the noise but the small area so filled with boxes I quickly lost myself in the meandering aisles, and for some reason Onceler was still following me.

_**Turn back while you have the chance.**_

**Nope. I want to see what made that noise!**

_**You're impossible.**_

**You don't have to talk to me you know.**

I finally came across a little clearing in the boxes, near the back of the shop, where a girl and a couple other people were gathered a big mirror on the wall.__The girl saw me and Onceler in the mirror and turned around so quickly she almost fell over.

"Please don't' tell anyone!" she begged, her eyes full of raw fear.

I guess she was talking about the sunset orange, 14 foot wide wings on her back. Probably wouldn't want anyone to know about those. Could be potentially problematic.

**Sunbeam**

We all had something wrong with us. That was why our parents left us to die. Obviously, I had wings. Lu, well, she could breathe underwater. On her neck were tiny little holes that functioned as gills. Mack had retractable claws, like a cats. He liked to shred things, such as my pants, when he was nervous. Like my clothes weren't already tattered enough.

And Will, he was special. He could stick to any flat surface, like a frog. He also was telepathic. He could communicate with his mind, even over long distances. It was great if someone ever got separated from the others. And, if he was scared enough, or concentrated hard enough, he could also move things with his thoughts. Creepy, yes, but useful. We've been on the run for as long as any of us can remember. We didn't want to be taken to a research facility and dissected. So when those two kids walked in, I thought we were done for.

"Please don't tell anyone!" I begged them.

The girl with kaleidoscope eyes walked up to me and held out her hand. "I'm Rebekah!" She paused, and looked at me expectantly. "This is where you shake my hand and tell me your name."

I warily grabbed her hand and shook it once. "Sunbeam."

Her eyes widened. "That is a really cool name! I wish I had a name like that, but my parents are idiots and named me Rebekah, instead of like, I don't know, Batman. And your hair is amazing! How did it get hat long?"

"Batman is the coolest!" Mack exclaimed. "With his baterang and the mask! Do you have any of the comics? I only ever saw one, and it was torn up in a garbage dump."

"Mack shut up for a moment," I said. I looked Rebekah square in the eyes. "So you're not freaking out?" She shook her head and her cinnamon colored curls bounced with the movement.

"I'm freaking out, just I little bit," the other kid, a boy with raven hair, said. "But you don't want anybody else to know, so we'll keep your secret. Mainly because we don't want to get you angry, cause you look like you could kill us."

He elbowed Rebekah in the ribcage. "Won't we Bekah?"

She yelped. "Yeah, of course we will!"

I can't truthfully say that I didn't nearly kiss them both. After glaring at them, of course.

**Jack**

Mum was quite surprised when she saw me with the staff. I don't blame her. Only specially trained people are eligible to have a staff. They go through years and years of violent and painful physical and mental training. And sometimes, even after that, they still aren't considered worthy of the honor and responsibility. The idea of an eleven year old having a staff is simply unbelievable.

"Please tell me you didn't steal that!" she squeaked.

"No mum, calm down," I put my free hand on her arm. "Ollivander gave it to me."

I didn't tell her about Ollivander's warning. She would go crazy with worry, especially after what happened with my father. I wouldn't put her through that again, not if I could help it.

**Onceler**

So yeah, the girl with the wings looked like she would kiss me. If it weren't for Bekah, I would have accepted. But Bekah was there, so, no can do, freaky winged chick.

Ollivander didn't even test me and Bekah for our wands. He just gave me a poplar one and Bekah a cherry maple and basically kicked us out the door along with Sunbeam and the little kids too. Somehow she had found a cape the same color of her dress and had hid her wings under it. She also had a jeweled staff in her hands. Did Ollivander give her that?

But now we had a more pressing matter to deal with. We didn't have a place to stay, and it was starting to get dark. I was pretty sure the Leaky Cauldron lent out rooms, but I wasn't positive. If Sunbeam had money, I thought we could rent a room big enough for all of us to spend a couple of nights in.

"Damn it!" Sunbeam yelled beside me looking around the almost empty alley, her freaky long hair dragging behind her. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?" I asked.

"The man who brought us here," she sighed. "I should have never of trusted him, no matter who he said he was."

"Who did he say he was?" This time Bekah questioned her.

"The headmaster at Hogwarts."

"So you don't think he left that for you?" I pointed at a large pile of wrapped parcels by the door of the store across the alleyway. Leaning against the pile was a piece of paper with 'Sunny' written on it. Sunbeam went over to the stack and picked up the paper, and began to read it out loud.

_"I had to leave you because there was a problem with the welcoming feast at Hogwarts. I took the liberty of buying the rest of your supplies, some new clothes for your family, and the supplies for the two wonderful people I presume you have met in Ollivander's. I hope you like the small gift I left each for of you."_

"He knew we would meet you?" Bekah inquired. "That's weird."Sunbeam picked up a wizard's robe and held it up to her body.

"Seems like he knew I would change too," she said. "Maybe he really is the headmaster."

I picked up a large bag, and shook it. A heavy _clink-clink-clink_ sound came from it as I did so. I smiled."Seems he is also very generous with his gold," my grin widened at the look on their faces. "Lucky for us."

**Jack**

As I lay in bed that night, I wondered who the girl and the others Ollivander talked about were. How were they connected to what happened with the fire? Will I ever meet them? I doubted it.Pippa sighed in her sleep. We shared the room, since she was too afraid to sleep by herself anymore. Not since our father was killed by that evil wizard, Pitch Black. I rolled over and shut my eyes tightly. I still couldn't believe he was gone.

**Rebekah**

We all went through the magic brick wall to get back to the Leaky Cauldron. We rented a room, a really big one that had multiple bunk beds, so that Sunbeam could stay with the little kids and Onceler and I didn't have to be alone. We took all the things the headmaster gave us to the room and sorted it out. Sunbeam, Onceler and I all had the rest of our school things. Every book and quill was there.

_**They still use quills? Why not use pens, like normal people?**_

**Because, last time I checked, they weren't normal people. Now shut up!**

We all, including the little ones, had five new robes each, and two new pairs of night clothes. Along with the school books there was a book with the title "An Introduction to Pyromancy" and 'Sunny' written inside the cover, so we gave that book to her.

There were three bags of candy, one for each of the kids. There were also three wrapped parcels with our names on them. We said that we were going to open those last because they were the biggest. There were also potion ingredients, toiletries, a large trunk for everybody to keep their things in, and countless other things that one might need.__Once all the things were sorted and packed safely in the trunks, we opened the wrapped parcels. We all received an animal, and they look miffed that we kept them in the packaging for so long.

I received a beautiful Siamese cat; Onceler had a Barn Owl, and Sunbeam a fierce peregrine falcon. There was a large quantity of food for them too.

"Wow," Sunbeam breathed. "I have a feeling that I made the right choice in coming here." The falcon hopped onto her shoulder and made itself at home.

"Me too," Onceler and I said at the same time, and we all laughed.

**Unknown**

I wiped my hands on the dry grass. The blood from the last guard had dried slightly, and was refusing to be cleaned off.

"Come on, Eros," Black smirked. "Just leave the blood on your pretty face. We need to move."

"Tch," Ler said. "His pretty face isn't so pretty anymore."

"At least it looks better than yours," I replied, standing. "Let's find the brats."

**Jack**

It was the day the train left. We used some more Floo powder to get to the Leaky Cauldron, and then we walked the rest of the way to King's Cross Station. Mum put all my things on a trolley and we ran at the wall together. On the other side, there was a scarlet train surrounded by students and their parents. Mum helped me lift my trunk onto the train and kissed me on the cheek. The train wouldn't leave for another ten minutes, so I found an empty compartment and waited, watching my mother and sister wave at me from the other side of the window.

**Onceler**

I screamed like a little girl when the man apperated into our room.

"Time to leave!" he yelled. Judging by the bathrobe and beard and going off of Sunbeam's description, I guessed that this was the headmaster.

"Not you again," Sunbeam said. The headmaster ignored her.

"Are you ready?" he asked looking around at the almost empty room. "I see you are all packed!"

"Sure," Sunbeam muttered. "Guys?" The little kids gathered around us. Her falcon hopped on her arm, my owl perched on my shoulder and Bekah's cat was curled up on her head.

"Then hold on tight!" The headmaster grabbed mine and Sunbeam's shirts and the others held on to us. It really felt like we were being forced through a straw. Once the dark faded away, I could see a big, red train. It was surrounded with people. "Your trunks are already," the headmaster looked at the back of his hand. "In compartment 13. See you later!" He vanished.

**Rebekah**

We walked down the train car until we found compartment 13. It was one of the bigger ones, meant to hold a large group of people. There was already another person there, a boy. He had dark brown hair and even darker brown eyes, and I could tell just by looking at the lines around them that he usually smiled a lot. Our trunks were already on a rack above his head. I sat down beside that boy, Onceler sat on the other side of me, and Sunbeam sat on the other bench with her family.

"Hey," the boy said, and then returned to looking out the window.

"Well he isn't very talkative," Onceler muttered. I nodded in reply, before I started to talk with Mack about Batman some more.

**Sunbeam**

The other boy was cute, but he hardly even acknowledged our presence until the train was almost a mile from the station. It probably didn't help that I was staring at him the whole time. I was trying to figure out why the headmaster had put us is the same compartment as him.

"I'm Jack," he said. "And you are..?"

"Rebekah, but you can call me Bekah."

"Onceler."

"I'm Sunbeam," I said. "And this is Will, Mack and Lu." I pointed to them as I said their names. They all glared at him indiscreetly, just like I taught them. He seemed a little scared, and I smirked at the look on his face.

"Aren't they a little young to be going to Hogwarts?" he asked, scooching back a bit farther on the seat.

"They aren't going to the school to learn, they are going so that we can stay together," I sighed. "They are the only family I have left."

"And it's the same for us too," Will said. "We wouldn't leave Sun for nothing."

"I- oh." He paused. "I'm sorry." After a long and uncomfortable pause, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Is that a falcon?"

**Onceler**

Bekah and I started talking after a small period of silence. Sunbeam joined us when she wasn't talking with the kids, but Jack remained silent for the majority of the time.

"We're going to go change into our robes," Sunbeam said after a while, pulling clothing from the trunks. "You should too!" She left the car and the kids followed her out. Bekah pulled her robes from her trunk, also.

"I'm going too," she said.

"So, how do you guys know each other?" Jack asked after she left.

I shrugged. I didn't want to say too much about the time before or after I met Sun or Bekah, so I kept it simple. "We met in Diagon Alley, at Ollivander's. Then we shared a room in the Leaky Cauldron for the few days we had before the train left."

"Why didn't you-?" Jack stopped himself. "None of you have families to return to, do you?"

I shook my head, and left it at that.

**Rebekah**

_**Do you really have to wear these?**_

**Shush, I like them. **

I looked at myself again in the mirror. The wizarding robes were attractive, though Fred didn't like them. He doesn't really like anything.

_**At least nobody knows I am in your head. I would be humiliated if I were you.**_

**Well you aren't me, so SHUT UP!**

Fred grumbled but quieted. I started to head back to the compartment, being careful not to trip over the hem. Somehow Sunbeam and the kids were already back, and Onceler and Jack were in their robes already too.

**Jeez, how slow am I? Don't answer that!**

I sat back down beside Onceler. He smiled at me, while Jack looked like he was about to hug me and burst into tears at the same time.I raised an eyebrow at Onceler and gave him a look that clearly said "How much did you tell him?"

And he just shrugged.

**Jack**

I looked at the other people in the compartment with me. There were seven of us in here, but I was the only one who had any family. I couldn't help but worry for them, even though Onceler had made it extremely clear that they could care for themselves. Call me soft, but I was about to ask all of them if they would like hugs. Don't judge me. Hugs are magical. But I decided to talk about something else instead. "So what houses do you want to be in?"

"Houses?" Rebekah asked.

"You know, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin!"

"I never heard of these before," Sunbeam said. "What are they for?"

God, this was going to take forever to explain. "Well when we get there we are going to have to have the sorting hat placed on our heads. And then it reads your thoughts and decides which house will be the best suited for you…" I talked for the rest of the train ride.

**Sunbeam**

So much for a man of few words.

**Rebekah**

_**What he is saying doesn't make any sense.**_

**Makes perfect sense to me!**

_**But does it really? Is this really what you want? To spend the rest of the year this these almost complete strangers?**_

**They're not strangers. They're my friends, and yes, I wouldn't mind spending the rest of the year with them, even though I don't know Jack all that well.**

_**Why do you always make these stupid decisions? One of these days, you're going to die because of one of them.**_

**If you say so Fred.**

"Do any of you know when we will get to the school?" Jack looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Um, we should be there right about-" the train's brakes started screeching loudly. "Now."

"Look at this!" Sun exclaimed, craning her neck to look out the window. The rest of us gathered around her. Noises of general exclamation were made at the sight of a really big and grand castle sitting on the top of a hill.

As the train came to complete stop at the platform, we all joined the rush to get off as quickly as possible. All the other kids our age looked lost, trying to figure out where they were supposed to do now. All of a sudden, a very high pitched voice cuts through the general hubbub.

"First years!" it called. "First years get over here! ASTER! STOP THAT!"

"That's us," Jack said. "Come on, follow me!"

We followed him through the crowd, and came to an amazing sight. The person calling for all the first years to gather wasn't really a person at all. It was like w woman crossed over with a peacock crossed over with a hummingbird.

"Sun!" Lu said, staring up in shock. "Why does that look like one of us?"

"I-I don't know," sunbeam turned to me. "This isn't normal, is it? Please tell me this isn't normal."

"Hey," I replied. "Don't forget that I just got here too."

"Is everyone here?" the hummingbird lady asked. She looked around and nodded. "I am the Magical Creatures professor, Tatiana. If you would please follow me, we can get right to the boats, and be on time for the feast."

She led us down to the shore of a large lake that surrounded the castle. There were many boats, and Sun and her family took one, and Jack, Onceler, and I took another, along with a student I didn't know. The boats all seemed to be controlled by magic, because they seemed to follow the professor's boat without any signs of being steered.

I peeked over the edge of the boat and was only half surprised to see a large pink tentacle sliding by underwater.

_**Hello human.**_

**Shut up Fred! **An eye the size of a dinner plate peeked up at me.

_**That wasn't me!**_

**Sure it wasn't. **I waved at the squid, and it slid back into the depths of the lake.

"Bekah?" Onceler poked my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am!" I said, sitting up and pushing my hair back. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were just staring over the side for a long time."

"Oh. Well, I'm fine. Do you think it will take much longer to get to the castle?"

"Nah," Onceler replied. "But it is pretty nice out here."

I looked up at the night sky, to see that it was full of stars, more than I had ever seen in the city. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Onceler**

"Hey," I said to the other student in the boat with us.

"Hey yourself," he replied smiling. "I'm James Potter." James extended his hand towards me and I shook it.

"I'm Onceler Smith."

"Onceler? That is an odd name."

"Well, my mother was an odd lady!"

James laughed. "I see. Have you ever seen the castle before?"

"No, I haven't," I replied. "I never even knew it existed until I got my letter."

"What are you two talking about?" Bekah asked, turning.

"The school," James said. "I'm James."

"I'm Rebekah," Bekah smiled. "It really does look majestic, doesn't it? Have you ever seen inside?"

"Once," James said. "I was visiting with my dad when he came to talk about death eaters to the defense against dark arts class."

"Death eaters?" Jack asked, joining the conversation. "Why would they be talking about that? I thought they had all died."

"It was more of a history segment than a defense lesson." James shrugged. "It was interesting though."

"What are death eaters?" Bekah asked. Both Jack's and James's expressions darkened.

"Death eaters were the subordinates of the evil wizard Voldemort. He was a dark wizard that killed a lot of people before he was defeated by Harry Potter about thirteen years ago," Jack explained, looking down. "He killed a lot of people from my village."

"Harry Potter?" I said. "Is that your dad James?"

"Yeah," James replied. "Not that it's a big deal or anything."

"I personally think that we should be more worried about the Animestores now," Jack said.

"Their leader was arrested though," James said. "Almost three years ago. They're disorganized and leaderless. We won't have to worry about them for a long time."

"Who's the leader?" Bekah asked.

"Actually there were four," James said. "One of them disappeared, but the other three were captured and taken to Azkaban, the highest security wizard prison in the world."

"Wait," Bekah said. "There were three of them? I remember reading something in the paper not long ago. It was a front page story. It said "Small Prison break From Azkaban". I didn't know what Azkaban was then, so I really didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Jack paled visibly. "W-what? A p-prison break?" He grabbed Bekah by the shoulders. "What were their names! Tell me their names!"

"I don't remember!" Bekah said, shocked. "It was a Pitch something, and two others! I don't remember, so please let go of me!"

"I'm sorry," Jack released her and stood up. "I have to go! Mom and Pippa! They're in danger! I-I have to go warn them!"

"Jack!" I yelled. "Sit down! You're going to tip over the boat! SIT DOWN!"

But he was too far gone to hear me. He kept on rambling about how the evil couldn't come back again, and how he was sorry about failing his father, and a bunch of other garbled nonsense I couldn't understand. Suddenly, he was encompassed in a translucent bubble, and we couldn't hear him anymore.

"He's having a panic attack," Professor Toothiana said, flitting over to our boat. "He'll be okay in a moment; he just needs to calm down."

Jack stopped trying to break the bubble after a moment, and sat on the bottom, his head in his hands.

"See?" the professor said. The bubble popped and Jack fell back onto the bench. "He'll be okay."

She flitted back over to the lead boat, and we stared at Jack in shock.

"Are you okay?" Bekah asked.

"No," Jack replied. He wouldn't look at our faces. "Pitch Black is one of the leaders of the Animestores. He killed my father three years ago. Now he's escaped, and he's going to hunt down my family and kill them." His voice broke. "And there is nothing I can do!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Sunbeam**

"Sunbeam?" Lu asked, leaning against my side. "Why is Jack in a shiny bubble?"

"Excuse me? I turned to look at the boat Jack and the others were in. sure enough, Jack was floating, encased in a pearly bubble.

As I watched, Professor Toothiana flitted over and said something to the other occupants of the boat. The bubble popped and Jack fell back into his seat, and he put his head in his hands. He must have said something shocking, because Bekah started to tear up, Onceler grimaced grotesquely, and the other boy frowned and shook his head.

"Will he be okay?" Mack questioned.

"I don't know," I said.

**Rebekah **

By the time we arrived at the castle Jack seemed to have returned to normal, besides the look of shattered glass in his eyes. It worried me.

But as we entered the front gates, almost all thoughts were driven from my mind. It was huge! The group of first year students stopped in front of a set of double doors, which probably led to the place where we would get sorted into our houses.

"Quiet!" Professor Toothiana called. "Quiet please! When these doors open, you will be led down to the end of the hall. I will call your name, and you will come up and place the sorting hat onto your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. After your house is chosen, you will join you're house at their table. These people will be like your family, while you are at Hogwarts, so I suggest that you try to be nice to them!"

The double doors swung open, and the procession was led down the Great Hall, which seemed to expand all the way up into the sky. The ceiling was an expanse of stars, and light was given by floating candles.

"Abbot, Chase!" the professor called. The boy went to stand next to her, and she placed an old and tattered hat on his head.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called, using a ripped seam for its mouth.

"I was not expecting that," Onceler whispered from where he stood next to me. I had to agree.

A few more people were called, then, "Frost, Jack!"

Jack shoved his way through the crowd, and the hat was place on his head.

"Gryffindor!" Onceler and I clapped with the rest of the hall. More people were called, but I didn't really pay attention to any of them, except for James. He was placed in Gryffindor as well.

"Smith, Onceler!" there was a bit of snickering as Onceler made his way up to the front.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Solaris, Sunbeam!"

"Slytherin!"

"Stevens, Rebekah!" My heart pounded as I made my way up. The hat was place on my head, and time seemed to stop as it tried to decide where I should be.

"A word of wisdom, child," it whispered. "Keep your friends close."

"Hufflepuff!"

I made my way to the table draped in yellow. I searched for my friends in the crowd, and by the looks on their faces, I could tell they were thinking the exact thing I was.

The different houses were like feuding families. Was our friendship going to be this short lived?

**Jack**

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" a boy sitting next to me said. "I'm Fred Weasly, fifth year."

"Weasly?" I asked. "As is THE Weasly's?"

"The very same," he smiled. "Red hair and all." He shook his head, and made his red curls bounce.

"I'm Jack Frost," I said, holding out my hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Frost?" Fred's smile faltered.

"Yes," I hesitantly replied.

"I'm sorry," Fred said. "About your father."

"How do you know about my dad?"

"My uncle and father used to work with him." Fred looked down at his hands. "When my dad had heard that Peter had died, well, he was really depressed for a long time. Still is really."

"It wasn't you or your dad's fault," I said. "You don't have to be sorry for me."

"I am sorry… I really am," Fred replied, and looked back up. "The headmaster is about to speak."

I turned my head to look the row of tables at the front of the hall, and saw that a tall, round man was standing behind a golden podium with an owl on front. The owl, obviously charmed, spread its wings and the rest of the hall quickly got quiet.

"Students!" the man boomed. "I am Headmaster North, and would like to welcome you all to Hogwarts. This year, I would like to repeat the rules for the first years. Upper years, I expect you, to keep them out of trouble." There was a bit of scattered laughter. "The fourth floor of the castle is completely out of bounds! Stay out if you wish to live a full and happy life. Also, the forbidden forest is forbidden to all students, unless accompanied by a staff member."

"Now, I would like to direct your attention to a change in staffing! Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Professor Venus!" Heads turned almost simultaneously to look at the man North was gesturing at. He was good looking, with sandy brown hair and gray eyes. He smiled and waved at the students.

"And, you also have a new potions teacher as well!" North exclaimed. "Professor Lorax." The chair he was pointing at seemed to be empty, until a bright orange, furry head popped up over the edge of the table.

**Onceler**

"Why do we have a sherbet colored meatloaf (A/N you're welcome Bekah) as a professor?" I whispered to the girl sitting next to me.

"Don't know kid," she whispered back. "But you get used to stuff like that around here."

**Rebekah**

I liked Professor Lorax's mustache. It was big, and poufy, and yellow, and- why did Professor Venus look familiar? But anyway, the mustache. It was yellow.

**Sunbeam**

My house-mates seemed dark. More so than the rest of the students. I immediately knew that if I had to trust someone, it wouldn't be them. I'd have to do something to protect my things. Maybe that book the headmaster gave me had a protection spell in it.

"One last thing, students," North said. "Bartholomew kinged the oobleck. Enjoy the feast!"

With those last, nonsense words, North waved his hands and great smelling food appeared on our tables. We fell upon it like ravenous dogs. Or at least, I started to before a felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned quickly, and was surprised to see Professor Toothiana looking at me happily.

"We professors have a surprise for you," She said. "Come see me after the feast."

"O-okay," I replied. But she was already gone.

**Rebekah **

The food on the Hufflepuff table was gone almost instantly. I helped. After we were done eating, I ended up talking to an older girl next to me. Nothing of much importance was said, so I won't bother you with the details.

I also saw that Professor Toothiana had talked to Sunbeam, and was now flitting over to my table.

"Rebekah," she said. "Follow Sunbeam after the feast is over, which will be soon, and be sure to tell Jack and Onceler the same."

"Okay!" I replied. "Why?"

"You'll see later!" she told me, and flitted off.

I shrugged and went back to talking with my new house-mates. They really were an interesting bunch. One of the guys I talked to had a pet toad.

**Jack**

"Prefects!" the headmaster called. "It's time to lead your houses to their rooms. Have a good night!"

"Gryffindors!" A boy called. "This way please! Keep up!"

"Jack!" I heard someone say. "Over here!" I turned and saw Bekah waving her arms and trying to get my attention. I made my way across the room to where she stood, along with Onceler.

"What the matter?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing's wrong," she said. "Well, at least, I don't think so. But Toothiana wanted to see us after the feast. We were supposed to follow Sunbeam, but I couldn't find her."

"There!" Onceler pointed, just as Sunbeam turned a corner, followed by the kids. "Come on!"

Since he was the tallest one, we let him clear a path through the crowd, and into the hallway Sunbeam had entered. By the time we got there, the hallway was empty, except for an open door near the end of the hall. Professor Toothiana flew out, waved at us, and then flew back in. We walked to the doorway and looked into the small room. It looked like a storage closet, with bottles stacked on shelves on all four walls. Besides Toothiana, Sunbeam and the kids were already in there, so we had to squeeze everyone in the small space.

"What is it you wanted to tell us?" Bekah asked.

"There were some space issues in the Slytherin dorms." Toothiana began to explain. "Sunbeam wouldn't be able to stay in the same room as Lu, Mack, and Will, so we professors came up with a solution. I wanted to extend this offer to the three of you," she looked at Onceler, Bekah and me. "I know that you have become very close friends in a short time."

"It depends on what this offer is," Onceler said.

"We converted some of the secret halls in the castle into a small dorm of its own. You can choose to stay together, or join your houses in their common rooms." Toothiana smiled. "Sunbeam already accepted the room. What about you three?"

"I think that it'll be fun!"Bekah said. "I'll stay in the secret rooms."

Onceler shrugged. "I'm not much for meeting new people, so at least I'll be hanging around people I know."

The offer did sound appeling. We would have our own private rooms, and probably be able to access them anywhere in the castle. But I wanted to get to know the other people in my house, they seemed halfway descent. And I didn't know the others even half as well as they knew each other.

"I'll pass," I told them. "But you guys enjoy it."

**Rebekah**

After Jack left, Toothiana tilted one of the bottles on the shelf. A hidden door swung open, leading into a large room.

"This bottle is labeled 'Sweetroot'" she pointed at the paper label on the glass. "It's the only one in this room, and it won't move besides the tilting, so it should be easy to find each time. I'll leave you free to look around your new rooms. Lights go out at eleven."


End file.
